Optimal Mix of Army Aviation Assets.

Abstract

The Army plan for future heavy division attack helicopter battalion organization calls for a similar organization to that which exits today: three attack companies consisting of three scout helicopters and five attack helicopters each, for a total of nine scouts and 15 attack helicopters per battalion. The scout to attack helicopter ratio has been fairly Consistent over the last thirty years. With the current fielding of AH-64D Longbow Apache and development of RAH-6 Comanche helicopters, it seems worthwhile to evaluate the number and types of helicopters that should be assigned to the attack helicopter battalion. This project investigated the predicted combat effectiveness of a variety of attack helicopter battalion force structures. Both the AH-64D and theRAH-66 were investigated in scout attack roles at three or five helicopters per platoon, with a focus on survivability, lethality and detection capabilities. The analysis contained in this technical report uses experimental design, multiple scenarios, multiple replications and confidence intervals to robustly investigate various battalion designs in an attempt to determine the best attack helicopter battalion force structure to meet the demands of the Force XXI and Army After Next. This project required analysis of each of 16 design points in three high resolutions scenarios. These scenarios were developed in Janus 6.0 and an associated database was edited and refined to create advanced vehicles and aircraft which might be expected for a 2010 combat engagement. A full 2%4 factorial design of experiments, plus a base case, resulted in seventeen design points requiring evaluation. Ten replications of each design point in each scenario, along with a more detailed refinement of two missions, required over 600 combat simulation runs. Analysis of output data revealed that Army development plans for future attack helicopter battalion force structures seem to be on track. 14.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA361461

Entities

People

  • James Armstrong
  • Jon L. Shupenus

Organizations

  • United States Military Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Anti-Tank Missiles
  • Army Aviation
  • Attack Helicopters
  • Combat Simulations
  • Databases
  • Detection
  • Experimental Design
  • Factorial Design
  • Force Structure
  • High Resolution
  • Information Science
  • Military Science
  • Operations Research
  • Systems Engineering
  • United States Military Academy
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Military Science